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That was the tally moments before Elise Militello and her husband, Joe, found out the gender of their second child at a gender reveal party for family and friends.

"I had one for my first, and my best friend really wanted to do another one," says the 29-year-old systems administrator from Greece. "It's more fun to find out when you're surrounded by the people you love."

Baby showers are just one pre-delivery step these days for many parents-to-be. Gender reveal parties are an increasingly popular way to announce whether a boy or girl will arrive soon. (Technically, they should be referred to as sex-reveal parties, but that's another story.) Sometimes, even the parents don't know until the big reveal. A technician writes the gender of the baby on a slip of paper and puts it in a sealed envelope, which gets delivered, for example, to a baker who could stuffs treats with pink or blue filling.

Party ideas for gender reveal parties abound on Pinterest and social media. Have guests beat a pinata packed with pink or blue pieces of candy or paper, dress in the color of their prediction, or hold up sticks with cardboard cutouts in the shape of lips (for a girl) or mustaches (for a boy).

Mindy LaClair, 37, of Greece had a gender reveal party for friends and most relatives for her first child, Sebastian, born March 29, although she and her husband, Clayton, as well as their mothers, found out the gender during an ultrasound.

"I wanted this for 37 years, and there was no way we couldn't find out right away," explains LaClair, whose chocolate and vanilla cake had an inner layer of blue frosting. "But the party was a fun way to get everyone together to celebrate our son."

"With girls it's easier because you can do a strawberry or raspberry filling or flavor," notes Philip Duquette, co-owner of Premier Pastry on South Avenue. Sometimes requests to bake a gender reveal party cake "come in batches," but he typically fields about one a month. One customer wanted a lemon cake without a pink or blue color, so he cut out an inside section and filled it with blue M&Ms.

In her best friend's back yard, Militello prepares to lift the lid off a decorated dryer box, filled with balloons — either pink or blue — by employees at Party City.

"I'm going for a girl," says her mother, Danielle Zielinski, dressed in a pink blouse, necklace and earrings. She showed up at the party with a bouquet of pink peonies.

Even Militello's husband, also with his hands on the box lid, is wearing a pink button-down shirt. He's convinced he'll be welcoming a daughter because his wife's pregnancy is so different, so much easier, this time around.

When the audience counts down and the lid comes off, pink balloons float up to the sky.